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New Species of tick discovered...up someone's nose!

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  • 07-12-2013 3:50pm
    #1
    Mickeroo
    Administrators, Computer Games Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 32,187 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭


    Thought this was an interesting one, equally disgusting as it is kind of funny:
    It was about three days after I'd left Africa that the pain in my nose became too severe to ignore. Starting as a dull ache niggling at the edge of my consciousness, it had gradually built in intensity to the point at which I had to stop what I was doing to investigate further.

    I'd been unpacking items from an expedition to western Uganda, where I'd been observing chimpanzees: I'm a patho-biologist and research infectious diseases in nature. It was partly deep revulsion that had led to my ignoring the symptoms at first. I had a pretty good idea what I was going to find, because I'd experienced a similar sensation before.

    Using an angled mirror and moving my body awkwardly, I was able to peer up my nose with the help of a torch. There it was, half a pinkie's length up, right where the cartilage meets the bone: the smooth, rounded backside of a fully engorged tick.

    Source: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/dec/07/experience-new-species-up-my-nose?CMP=fb_gu


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    #2
    Hollzy
    Registered Users Posts: 354 ✭✭Hollzy


    Oh my. The thought of having to pull a tick out of my nose makes me ill! Great story though.


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    #3
    Adam Khor
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,279 Mod ✭✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Better than a leech, I guess. I remember reading about leeches that specialize on noses...


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    #4
    Mickeroo
    Administrators, Computer Games Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 32,187 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Mickeroo


    Adam Khor wrote: »
    Better than a leech, I guess. I remember reading about leeches that specialize on noses...

    Don't the common leeches often make their way into the noses of Ducks?


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    #5
    _Redzer_
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,056 ✭✭✭_Redzer_


    *crosses Uganda off holiday destination list*


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    #6
    Adam Khor
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,279 Mod ✭✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Mickeroo wrote: »
    Don't the common leeches often make their way into the noses of Ducks?

    I didn´t know that. What I had in mind was (I think) a Himalayan species you can accidentally drink and then crawls up your nose and gets stuck in there.


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